19 Aug 2018

African has been advised to stay on guard lest they lose out on technology and innovation which are primary anchors of the 4th industrial revolution the world is experiencing today.

United Nations under-secretary-general and executive secretary of Economic Commission for Africa, Ms Vera Songwe sounded warning bells when addressing the just ended 38^th Ordinary Summit of SADC heads of state and government themed, Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development in Windhoek, Namibia. 

Ms Songwe said there was more that needed to be done to promote and protect innovation among young Africans.

She noted that more than half of the 97 technology hubs found in the SADC region were in South Africa notwithstanding slight growth in the number of active hubs in other regional bloc countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Also, Ms Songwe challenged SADC member states and Africa at large to do more on intellectual property saying the current costs of protecting innovations on the continent were exorbitant and therefore prohibitive for young entrepreneurs and startups.

“While the cost of acquiring a patent is relatively cheaper in South Africa at around US$3 000 to US$5 000, the total costs relating to the two main regional patent offices on the continent namely, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) and Francophone equivalent, OAPI, ranged over US$30 000,” she said. ENDS